Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope you all have great plans!

I for one am so grateful to be celebrating independence. 

Freedom.

I'm so grateful for those who make my freedom possible and continue to protect it.

Thank you!

Here are a few ideas of things to do this weekend in honor of Independence Day.

As seen on Do One Nice Thing:

Postcards for Wounded Service Members

Waiting for a flight, or relaxing on a trip? Send a postcard to a wounded service member in the hospital. Children can write messages of thanks or even just draw a heart and picture on picture postcards, too.

Hundreds of ill or wounded service members arrive from Iraq and Afghanistan each month at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. When they arrive they are handed a “welcome backpack” with hygiene products, an international calling card, a sweatshirt and a blanket. With your help, they can also receive a card with a sweet message from your nice family.

Mail to:

MTD
Attn: Soldiers' Angels
CMR 402
APO AE 09180

(It costs the same as mailing inside or to the U.S.)

OR

Participate in "Let's Say Thanks"

In case you missed this info in the Memorial Day post-- here it is again.

*You can go here and send an e-card very quickly that will be sent to our troops.

 "Let's Say Thanks" is a free service provided by XEROX. It is quick and simple. 

First you scroll through the designs (I believe all of the designs were created/drawn by children.) 

Then you personalize it with a message, your name, and hometown. 

Then you hit "send." 

Really simple. Really good.

OR

*You can contribute to USO Operation Phone Home. 

USO Operation Phone Home delivers prepaid international phone cards to deployed service members free of charge. 

100 percent of the money raised for the USO Operation Phone Home program goes to the purchase of phone cards.

I imagine a call home is just what some of these soldiers need.

There are a few ways to donate:

Online choose the "donate to a specific program" option.

By Phone: 1-800-876-7469

By Mail:

(with O.P.H. written in the memo)
USO Headquarters
PO Box 96860
Washington, DC 20090-6860

OR...

*You can join Soldiers' Angels, The Chrylser Group LLC, and Zac Brown Band and participate in their Letters for Lyrics campaign. (Come on people, I'm droppin' names here -- real names, famous names! This is good stuff!)

Basically, here's how it works:

Their goal is to deliver 1,000,000 (that's one million -- in case you aren't used to seeing that many zeros), letters to servicemen and women around the world.

Go to any Dodge or Ram Truck dealer and write a card/letter.

In exchange you will receive a FREE CD (once again, I repeat, FREE CD) with three new songs from the Zac Brown Band and others from various artists also with the Southern Ground Label.

 {After hearing this I'm sure the hubs is thinking "You had me at CD. You had me at CD!"}

If you're interested in reading a little bit more about this, you can go to Chrysler's blog, here, or to Soldiers' Angels, or to Zac Brown Band's site.

This is a great campaign and you get something FREE from someone famous!

{By the way, I forgot to mention, there is also a brand new video you can watch for free.}

This campaign began May 10th and they are at 144,999 letters. They still need A LOT more to reach their goal.

There is also a free live track from Zac Brown Band available for download here. For every download they will make a donation to Soldier's Angels.

Actually, it's really great because it is an excellent way to spread some good to some of those that sacrifice the most for our freedom!

Show your gratitude for your freedom and give back to those who give so much.

Have a great weekend!